Here's our final segment in this "issue" of February's #WednesdayYA! Last week we had our twitter chat to discuss Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken, and lemme tell you: it was mixed bag. Because I fell like I said everything I needed to say about this book (and because some pretty good points were raised, and good times had), I thought I'd do this non-review in the form of a twitter-ish rant-filled talk with y'all. So. Click through if that's a thing that interests you.(And really, why wouldn't it? ;P )
And now, Unspoken. Oh, Unspoken... You had your moments. We all praised the humor...
Humor was the only thing that kept me hanging on past page 150 or so... RT @lali_sweety: I liked the humor a lot. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
...even though that was sometimes hit and miss...
Sometimes I felt like the humor was trying too hard to be quirky--like it was impersonating Maureen Johnson's Twitter. #WednesdayYA
— Liz Anderson (@lizpatanders) February 20, 2014
...and we tended to have that one character we liked in spite of themselves, and liked the lead characters, in general — well, sort of...
If you write paranormal YA with a love interest, please, write me a damn memorable love interest. I beg of you. I challenge you #WednesdayYA
— Liz Anderson (@lizpatanders) February 20, 2014
And the tortured attraction dynamic was stale and half-assed RT @lizpatanders: Neither [boy] brought anything new to the genre. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Ha! Now my brain is just going "tortured attraction: deserves more than just half an ass." Carry on. @TheBookRat #WednesdayYA
— Liz Anderson (@lizpatanders) February 20, 2014
...but for the most part, we. were. disappoint.
And I found it a bit of a trainwreck, sadly. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
I think I see a rant coming out from @TheBookRat! This would be a good time to make some popcorn, folks. #WednesdayYA
— Liz Anderson (@lizpatanders) February 20, 2014
You don't even KNOW. Yes. Yes, I want to rant. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Because setting aside the humor and sometimes lovable characters, the sad fact is, most of the time, the characters were caricatures. And THAT is a sure way to irritate the piss out of me. Which, if that's something you're going for... well, if that is what you're going for, we have bigger problems than the fact that Angela's identifying characteristics are that she sleeps seriously all the time, like, more than a cat and that she's .
It has a strong tendency toward cliche, I think. This is really highlighted in how much the characters are really CARICATURES. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
In fact, a lot of things bothered me when it comes to the way the story was written, the way it was developed (or not).
It's a really interesting concept to explore, the dynamics between people who've been forced together, #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Only, it's not really explored all that much, beyond a whiny adolescent way. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Instead, it was just a lot of waffling and "Maybe I like him, Hey, he's cute, He's never going to kiss me, Ooh, shiny!" #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
I found the pacing both slow and choppy. Things came together weirdly, sometimes dragged, sometimes rushed. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Mary Sue/bad transitions/lack of follow through - It ticked a lot of those boxes. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
I really just could not get past how one-dimensional the characters were, and how much the writing skewed toward juvenile, "Hey, I'm writing a novel in high school, look at me!" and my god I hate to say something like that you have no idea, but there it is. I think that alone would have been enough to put this one on my don't list, which is a shame, because for the first hundred pages or so, I thought it was going to be firmly on my funk-breakers list, which is always a good thing.
I liked it in the beginning. It was funny and quick, little quirky. Thought it was going to be a good funkbreaker. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
BUT THEN it hit a point where it just started going seriously downhill. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
But even if the characters weren't cardboard cutouts of themselves, and even if the plot and backstory weren't a little silly and murky, there was something that just...UGH, it made me seethe a little bit. And that, my friends, was the main character's treatment Holly, the town's monetarily-poor but bustily-rich "floozy" (and yes, the word floozy was used, though mostly (I think; I hope) in a joking manner).
But there's 1 thing that was an absolute non-starter, and I want to make sure to mention it. I HATED the treatment of Holly. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
For the most part, I liked Kami. She's funny, she's quirky, she's a go-getter. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
BUT she is Judgy McJudgerson when it comes to Holly. She's continuously sexist & dismissive and borderline slut-shamy of Holly #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Holly was never anything but friendly, enthusiastic and sweet, and Kami was dismissive, condescending & rude. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Now, I'm not saying that you can't/shouldn't have characters that act like this. There are certainly those girls who are #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
hyper judgmental of other girls, and apparently Kami's one of them. It's authentic, so that's fine. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
The only thing (the ONLY THING) that kept me from doing something I've never done, which is to actually physically throw a book, was that I think (I think) this was a calculated choice on Brennan's part; she is at least aware that this is how she created Kami, and that it's not cool (or at least, if one offhand comment is anything to go by, she doesn't intend the reader to agree with Kami's behavior):
I WILL say, I do have to give kudos to SRB for having Jared call Kami out on it. Shows that it wasn't just ingrained sexism #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
But it still makes me SEE RED. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
But it wasn't all negative...
I think Brennan writes great prose and can really set an atmosphere, but the plot and the romance were only okay for me. #WednesdayYA
— Liz Anderson (@lizpatanders) February 20, 2014
...or, at least not totally negative. Even I said I might consider reading the second book. Might. Though, really, I think most of the reason I want to read it is because of a cheap ploy, so... maybe I'll not read it out of pure petulance.
Felt like a ploy to get readers into book 2. RT @lali_sweety: One thing I really hated was Jared's reaction at the end #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
Well, pure petulance and this excerpt of book 2 that I stumbled across, that makes me more than a little irritated, because WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING EFFS IS GOING ON HERE?But really, in the end...
but again, you have to give me a reason to want to READ book 2. Loose threads hanging everywhere won't do it. #WednesdayYA
— Misty (Book Rat) (@TheBookRat) February 20, 2014
But enough of that. Let's talk about something we're bound to like (she says, hopefully). It's time for a look at our potential March picks! Liz and I decided when we started this whole thing that we wanted to change up the way books are picked each month, and that we'd get to choose the book we most want to read during our birth month. Well, I kick off the month of March with my birthday, so I get first pick! But I'm an indecisive creature by nature, so I need your help.Below are three of the #WednesdayYA potentials that are most calling my name right now. Take a look...
...and let us know in the comments or on instagram (or twitter, or wherever!) which book YOU most want to see in March, or think I'd like the most!
I know you and I talked a bit about this on twitter, but Kami behaviour, especially towards Holly was beyond uncalled for throughout the story and I really took issue with that. Nothing made me more angry than her calling Holly all these names, yet here's this girl who's so sweet, friendly and kind, and has done NOTHING to her. I really just didn't see the point of that aspect except SRB being like "Here! Kami's a bitch! It's development, right?" and that bothered me. Like you, the characters didn't feel like characters, so a lot of the "development" just came across very one-way and there was no depth or understanding within the madness.
ReplyDeleteWhile I loved that Jared calls her out on it, I'm equally annoyed that he just in a lot of ways allows Kami to behave the way she does, but doesn't act upon stopping her. He says but doesn't follow through which again I think is also problematic. The humor was cute and cheeky but it was also super excessive and saturated that I found myself wanting to smack the book repeatedly.
I don't think it's a terrible book because I *can* see the appeal and how people could enjoy it, but I think after reading the twitter chat and the book two excerpt, I'm probably going to skip the rest of this series. Hell, I HATED Shatter Me, yet I will give Mafi all the credit, there's a part of me that wants to see how that series actually would end.
"I really just didn't see the point of that aspect except SRB being like "Here! Kami's a bitch! It's development, right?" and that bothered me."
ReplyDeleteI think that's my real problem with it. As I said, this is AUTHENTIC. We all know that girl - we know too many of those girls - who hate on other girls without ever really knowing a thing about them. It bothers me, I hate to see it perpetuated, but it's real, so I get including it. But it did feel like a throwaway, like she wanted to use Holly for Kami's personal growth, but then just let that thread dangle and never did anything with it. And I have a feeling from the excerpt of book 2 that I linked, that any progress Kami made is going to quickly be lost. =/
Hmm. I didn't read along so I don't really have anything to say about Unspoken, but it sounds like it was a bit of a let-down. D:
ReplyDeleteMy birthday is in March, too, and I've been thinking about The Darkest Minds for some time now. I'd like to see what other people think of it, and get into myself if study allows! So that's my vote :)
Happy birthday! A lot of people seem to be leaning toward TDM, which was what I was leaning toward, too. And maybe it's just my contrary nature, but now I think I'm leaning toward Slide... lol!
DeleteMy vote is Slide! I've had that one on my shelf forever :)
ReplyDeleteUnspoken felt like it was purposefully trying to be silly and satiric. But maybe I was reading way too much into it. Nothing brainy, just brain candy and I laughed. But I don't think I'll move onto the rest of the series. I just don't care about the characters enough.
Every time I post about Slide, I have so many people comment that they loved it or think I would like it. I think I might end up going with it.
DeleteAnd I agree, I do think the silliness was purposeful. If it had pushed the envelope more, I could have bought it as a parody of YA PNR, but it was a little too on the nose for me to not think that was just the story she wanted to tell. And as such, it just came off as cliche and juvenile to me. But I can see why people would enjoy it, and it was funny enough in the beginning that I would still try more by her (which is a good thing, 'cause I already own The Demon's Lexicon...)
I think I'm going to skip Unspoken now.
ReplyDeleteI think Maech should be Darkest Monds.